I'm 18 years old, in high-school. I always begin the day with a shower, I soap my face and then rinse with cold water. For an hour or two my face is nice & soft, not dry, but definitely not oily. But then I go to school, and by the end of the day, my face is so oily! I want to keep a nice smooth face skin all day! How can I do this without having to fork out for anything extravagant or expensive, preferably a natural or very cheap technique?
One cool thing about oily skin is that you're not likely to age as fast. They make these great things called blotting tissues for skin like that. I have a friend that uses them. She just presses them to her skin, & the oil gets absorbed into the sheet. I'm pretty sure many brands are simply made of rice paper and can be bought at relatively inexpensive prices. I'd bet a search of the net would yield you some results. Good luck with it.
I would try washing with just water, or use some sort of clay cleanser (I like the Burts Bees green clay mud mask powdery stuff). Soap sometimes dries up too much oil, then your skin overproduces it and looks oily as a result. You might even find that a good quality moisturizer helps your skin not make so much oil.
Blotting tissues work wonders. Very quick, very easy. Disposable and cheap. I'm not a fan of fancy clay masks/soaps either and my skin is a combination of oily and dry. I definitely have a T-zone. But don't fret! I've had people come up to me asking what I use to give whatever glow they see. It's just from natural oils. So there's a silver lining in everything. Just learn to handle the excess. I'm not sure if the salt water helps. It goes back to Mamaboogie's theory (which I agree with) that overdrying leads to overproduction of oils. By continuously drying out the skin, it is conditioned to keep producing more and more oils. At least that's what I found out with my skin.
my god, i have the same problem to the point where i loathe going 8-9 hours without being able to wash my face. I have very dry skin on the surface in some spots but after a couple of hours it's all grease. What makes it worse is i wear make-up and use soap to wash. Say it all you will "stop wearing foundation" but since having breakouts from the age of 8, make up is a face saver for me as i dont exactly have a great complexion to go about sans make up. I'll be grateful to show less signs of aging in a decade, but for now i just can't handle any more oiliness. It's gross.
makeup, foundation in particular, will only make your complection that much worse over time. You know this already. Harsh soaps and face cleansers cause you to produce more oil, as well as drying out the top layer of your skin. Then you get a flaky, greasy mess. Try washing with lotion instead of soap, or night cream, or something like that. You rub in a thick layer and then wipe it off with a hot washcloth (barely damp). After you get it all wiped off, then rinse the cloth out real well and scrub your face with just plain water to exfoliate and stimulate your skin. And every now and then, go outside in the sunshiine without makeup on!!
Believe it or not, jojoba oil is great for regulating oil production. I highly recommend it for any skin type.
at almost 42 my skin is still very oily (and yes i get taken for 15 years younger on a regular basis). i have tried leaving it alone, and have tried mosturizing it, tried washing a lot and not...it stays the same...so i wash it when i can't stand it, blot otherwise, use a mosturizer sometimes, and if the oil is out of control, a little cornsilk powder which i find absorbs it. but yes i guess the upside is the looking young part...
Some people like toner..... it really helped my sister control her SUPER oily skin. And those blotting papers DO work wonders--I get occasionally oily spots, and I just press/whipe it on the grease and VOILA!! 'Tis gone!
Go to your local drug store and buy a bottle of Milk of Magnesia (you can sometimes find it cheaper in generic brands). Shake well and apply a small amount to your face aftrer cleansing. This acts as an oil blotter, and should keep you shine free for several hours at least. Freshen up during the day with witch hazel-soaked cotton pads (carry a few of them in a zip lock baggie in your purse). Wash your face with a gentle soap and stay away from anything with high amounts of alcohol. Stripping the skin will only encourage it to produce more oil, causing a vicious circle. During the cooler months, apply a little aloe vera gel to keep the skin moisturized. Treat any blemishes with a little tea tree essential oil applied with a qtip. Keep the skin exfoliated with a little baking soda mixed with cleanser. For stubborn blackheads, mix a little sugar or table salt with your cleanser and gently massage into affected areas. Rinse well. Good luck! Cat